Outsider's Perspective
by Medie Shanachie
Summary: An outsider gets a look at the Atlantis team and forms her own opinions.


_Author's Note: So this started out as my reaction to the addition of the new captain on Atlantis for season 5...except... I missed the last episode of season 4 and the more I read about the end of season 4 and the beginning of season 5, the more I realized my story wouldn't work. So this has turned into just a new captain has joined Atlantis and this is how she sees the Atlantis crew._

_Slight spoilers for "Sunday" and my story "Making Friends"...this is set sometime after "Sunday" but before "First Strike" so actually I guess this takes place during season 3...oops._

_Anyway standard disclaimer...anything recongizable Atlantis does not belong to me...Aiden, Lauren, and various other minor people do._

_Special thanks go to Sheta Storm for naming the place where the engineers work and to Ash for naming the doctor and the Marine that Aiden and Lauren encounter on their tour._

* * *

Captain Lauren Sutcliffe had climbed the military ladder quickly. She was young for her rank, although not absurdly so, and her posting to Atlantis had come as a surprise to her, but not to her superiors. She had been briefed and cautioned and now she stood before the last leg of her journey. One more step would take her into Atlantis and her new life. Lauren didn't know if she should be apprehensive or excited. She would be replacing the senior captain on Atlantis, and she knew there would be other officers superior to her, but she only knew names and jackets; not personalities. "You ready, ma'am?" the staff sergeant at the DHD asked, shaking her from her contemplation.

Lauren shook her head to clear her thoughts, the motion not even disturbing a lock of her tightly bound red hair. "Yes, Staff Sergeant. Go ahead."

The staff sergeant smiled. "The correct command is 'dial it up,' ma'am." He reached over and triggered the device, calmly punching seven symbols and then the large center button. "Atlantis, this is Alpha Base. I have Captain Sutcliffe ready to step through. Please lower the shield."

"Acknowledged, Alpha. She can step through when ready," the reply came back promptly.

Lauren picked up her sea bag, glanced around the clearing of the small moon she had spent all of ten minutes on, and stepped up and through the wormhole. She emerged on the other side to find two men waiting for her. As she crossed the floor to them, she took the opportunity to study both them and her surroundings. The room was an airy, open area with stain glass windows above them. Balconies ran along three sides of the room with the Stargate behind her. Waiting at the bottom of the stairs were two men. The taller of the two was a lean man with a runner's body. His dark hair stuck out, almost like he had put his finger in a light socket, and his hands were stuffed in his pockets. The other man was stockier and shorter, more military-looking. He was standing with his hands at his side and had apparently been saying something to the first man, but stopped talking when they noticed Lauren.

"Welcome to Atlantis, Captain," the taller man greeted her. He held out his hand, ignoring the salute she had offered. "I'm Colonel Sheppard. This is Major Lorne and we'll be your tour guides aboard the good ship Atlantis."

"Sheppard!" a voice snapped from one of the balconies. "You promised you would help me today with the devices from M39-564."

Sheppard turned and looked up at the man, obviously annoyed. "Rodney, go find someone else to be your light switch," he called.

The man put his hands on his hips and glared down at the younger man. "No! You agreed to do this. You're not getting out of it this time. It goes much faster and I can figure things out quicker when you help."

Sheppard sighed and turned to Lorne. "You think you can handle the tour guide thing? If I don't do this, he's liable to screw with the environmentals in my quarters or something."

Lorne nodded, fighting back a grin at the consternation on his CO's face. "Not a problem, sir. Try not to injure Doctor McKay. We might need him later."

Sheppard pointed his finger at Lorne. "You've been spending too much time with the civilian members of your team." He grinned at Lauren. "Lorne'll take good care of ya and get ya settled in." He jogged up the stairs and took McKay's arm, dragging him away. Before they were completely out of sight, the two men began bickering.

Lauren turned to face the major, who was looking around for something or someone. "Is he always like that?" she asked.

Lorne looked puzzled. "Who? Sheppard? Or McKay?" He called over to one of the Marines loitering near-by, "Wall! Come 'mere."

As the sergeant double-timed it over to them, Lauren answered, "Both. Either. Sheppard seemed a little lax in discipline."

Lorne gave a half-shrug as the Marine reached them. "Sheppard's Sheppard. I don't know what he was like before Atlantis, but it works here. McKay? You get used to him or just just deal with it. Most of your interaction with him will come from staff meetings and shooting down his requests. Sheppard and I will run interference for a little while until you learn to handle him." He indicated Lauren's sea bag with his foot. "Wall, take this down to the senior officers' quarters. We'll put it in the captain's room when we get down there."

"Yes, sir." The blond Marine slung the sea bag onto his shoulder. "Deke just radioed, sir. Doc's in her lab and won't leave. He didn't want to upset her..." The young man trailed off and looked at his superior, obviously expecting the other man to understand.

Lorne sighed and nodded. "So he didn't try to pry her away. I'll go talk to her."

Wall dug a syringe out of a pocket and handed it over. "You might need this, sir."

Lorne tucked it into his own pocket. "Looks like we're starting your tour in the labs, Captain. This way."

Lauren followed Lorne up the stairs and into the transporter. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Doctor Bancroft was injured on our last mission," Lorne explained, tapping the right spot on the map. "She's supposed to be resting and not working. I need to go talk to her. If she won't go lay down and rest; I'll drug her."

Lauren looked at him in shock. "You'll do what?!"

Lorne motioned for her to proceed him into the hall. "She's a bit stubborn." He indicated the area around them. "So this is the social science or soft science level. All of the linguists, archaeologists, and anthropologists have labs down here or offices. Also anything else that falls under the 'soft' science label. Doctor Bancroft's lab is this way." He led the way down the corridor to Aiden's office and waved his hand at the crystals, opening the door. "Aiden," he called as he walked in, "I thought Keller told you to rest."

Lauren had followed the major into the lab. Now she stood back and watched the interaction between the two. The dark-haired woman didn't look up from whatever she was working on as she answered Lorne, "I rested. I need to work on these translations." Lauren could see that her right arm was in a sling and she was shifting as if she was uncomfortable.

"Keller was pretty clear with her directions. You need to stay calm and relaxed until your arm heals up," Lorne said evenly.

"Bite moi, connard," she replied.

"Aiden," Lorne chided her. "That's not nice. You don't know if Captain Sutcliffe can speak French and you really shouldn't prove how bad your mouth is when you first meet her."

Aiden looked up at that. "I didn't know you had company with you. Besides Deke already read her jacket. She doesn't speak French, but she does speak Arabic, Spanish, and German. What else do you want to know about her?"

Lorne had moved closer to her as she spoke. "So I'm gathering you aren't going to go rest?" he questioned. "And I see I need to speak to Deke again about hacking into the system."

"No, I told you when you came in that I need to work on these translations. And Deke didn't break in." She grinned. "He used your pass codes. Time to change them again, grá." She nodded at Lauren. "Nice to meet you, Captain Sutcliffe. Welcome to Atlantis."

Lauren gave a little wave, not at all sure how to take the linguist. "Hello. Why don't you want to rest?"

"Because I have a job to do." Aiden jumped as Lorne stabbed her with the needle. Her eyes widened as she realized what he had done. "You fucking son of a bitch!"

Lorne caught Aiden as she toppled off the stool, careful of her arm, as the drug took affect. "Yeah, I've heard that one before," he informed the unconscious woman.

Lauren watched him, stupefied, as he shifted the linguist to a more comfortable position. "Is that even legal?" she asked.

Lorne settled Aiden's head against his shoulder and cradled her in his embrace. "It's not precisely illegal," he hedged. "I need to take her back to her quarters and get her settled. We can either postpone your tour for a little bit or I can show your where your quarters are after I get her settled."

She nodded. "I'd like to see my quarters so I suppose the best thing is to go with you. It shouldn't take you long, right?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Especially since she can't fight me. Okay, back to the transporter."

With his hands full of Aiden's unconscious body, Lorne had to verbally walk Lauren through how to open the door and work the transporter. When the doors opened on the level with the senior officers' quarters, he wasn't that surprised to find Wall waiting with Lauren's sea bag. "I gather she argued, sir?" Wall asked with a grin, indicating the unconscious linguist.

"When doesn't she?" Lorne replied and didn't wait for an answer as he continued, "Give the captain her sea bag and get yourself back on duty."

"I'm off duty now if you want me to sit with Doc," Wall offered.

"Nah," Lorne answered as Wall handed over the bag. "She's gonna be six shades of pissed when she wakes up. I'd rather be the one in her line of fire."

Wall nodded in response and saluted which Lauren returned, although she noted Lorne didn't really acknowledge it. "Y'all aren't really big on respect, are you?" she asked as she followed the major down the hall.

"It's a lot of time and energy we don't always have to salute all the time," he answered. "Plus its kinda bad form to frag the officers." He paused in front of the door to his and Aiden's quarters, thinking _unlock_ at it. "Wave your hand at the crystals," he instructed.

"Isn't it locked?" she questioned.

Lorne shook his head. "I already unlocked it. Come on, Captain, she's getting heavy." Lauren waved her hand as he directed, blinking in surprise when the door silently slid open. She followed him as he entered the common area. "Make yourself comfortable," he offered. "It shouldn't take me long to put Aiden to bed."

Lauren took his instructions as freedom to poke around the common area as he disappeared through a doorway. A low couch was pushed against one wall with bookshelves of varying heights taking up most of the wall space. A few chairs were arranged as a small conversation area and one corner was apparently set up as an artist's studio. It was a neatly arranged room, that had obvious military influence.

Lorne re-entered the common room to see Lauren looking back and forth between one of his paintings and a picture of Aiden with her brothers. The boys, including Hunter, Daren's husband, were piled together with Aiden sprawled across their laps. All of them, even serious Patrick, were laughing and the love radiated off them. It had been taken when she had taken a recent trip Earth-side. "Problem, Captain?" he asked, tucking his hands into his pockets as he strolled towards her.

"Your linguist just doesn't seem the type to like pretty pastoral scenes," she commented, indicating the painting.

"She doesn't, but she likes me. That's my painting. The picture is, obviously, hers," Lorne answered.

Lauren looked confused. "She likes you? And your painting? What's it doing in Doctor Bancroft's quarters then?"

Lorne smiled easily. "Yes, she likes me. And, yes, my painting. One of the ones I like the best actually." He indicated the corner where his artist supplies were stored. "I draw and paint, when I have free time. And these aren't Aiden's quarters or they aren't just hers. They're our quarters. Come on, I'll show you where you'll be bunking."

"Seems a bit odd that you're sharing with a civilian. Is space that tight that people have to share quarters?" Lauren questioned.

Lorne placed his hand against the door, locking it with a thought and making sure it would only open again to his command. "We aren't limited on space at all, as you'll see when we finish the tour. Aiden and I choose to share."

"Isn't that against regs?" Lauren asked.

Lorne sighed. "Captain, if you keep asking if things are against regs, you're going to run into a lot of problems here. We tend to run things a little differently than they do Earth-side." He opened the door to her quarters and waved her inside. "You need to decide if you can hack it here. There's a meeting at eighteen-thirty for senior staff that you should be at. I'll leave you to get settled and come back to finish your tour in a little while."

Lorne left the confused captain to unpack and traversed the corridor back to his own quarters. When he entered the bedroom, Aiden was curled up on her left side, upside down on the bed; her feet on the pillow. He shook his head at her position, but didn't attempt to move her since she would just go back into a similar position. He retrieved his laptop from the other room, logged onto the server, and settled down into a chair to do paperwork while he waited for Aiden to wake up.

* * *

Lorne looked up as Aiden groaned and began to stir. "Don't roll over," he warned.

"You drugged me," she accused before she opened her eyes. "You fucking drugged me." She sat up and put her hand to her head. "Ow."

He tossed her the bottle of aspirin that had been next to him. "Take those. There's water on the nightstand." He didn't move towards her because he knew she was liable to hit him. "Keller told you to rest. You know what happens when you don't follow directions."

Aiden rubbed her head. "Gah. I feel like I've been on a six day bender."

"Six day?" he questioned, grinning at her.

She pointed a finger at him. "You don't get to think it's funny. You _drugged_ me!"

Lorne sighed. "I suppose I'm going to be hearing about that for a few days, aren't I?" he said. "How's your arm?"

"The throbbing in my arm has been replaced by the heavy metal band in my head," she grumbled at him. "What time is it?"

"Sixteen-forty-five. We've got a senior staff meeting at eighteen-thirty that you need to be at." He set his laptop aside. "And I have to go finish giving the captain her tour now that you're awake."

Aiden frowned as she got out of bed, then paused to let the dizziness pass. "Why are you showing her around?"

"Just part of the job. The other captains are busy and so is Sheppard and we can't send a junior officer. You gonna be okay to get to the meeting?"

"I'm fine, Ev. I've got to go up to the infirmary and check in with Keller. Why don't I get the captain and escort her around? Then you can finish what you were doing and get things settled before the meeting."

"You sure? I don't mind escorting her around." He eyed her; she was still clutching the side of the bed. "You look a little dizzy."

Aiden glared at him. "I am not dizzier than a drunk whore on a piss pot," she replied and then off his look, "it's an expression, Evan. I can handle it and I promise to censor myself." She reached up and kissed him briefly, then grabbed her jacket from where he had tossed it. "I'll take her up to the infirmary, swing by the crazy labs of the engi-nerds, then bring her to the staff meeting, 'kay?" She didn't wait for him to answer, but waggled her fingers at him, and left the room.

Lorne shook his head, resisting the urge to bang it on the wall (a common occurrence in Aiden's presence). "She's going to request a transfer back to Earth after ten minutes in Aiden's company," he predicted to the empty room.

* * *

Aiden realized she didn't know which room was Captain Sutcliffe's after she left her quarters, but she didn't want to retrace her steps and asked Lorne. So she called the control room to get the location. Luckily Chuck just answered her rather than giving her a hard time about not asking Lorne first. She walked down the hall to the right room and triggered the chimes, waiting patiently for an answer.

When Lauren answered the door, she was surprised to see the petite linguist and not the major who had been giving her the tour. She frowned, but quickly blanked her face. "Can I help you?" she asked.

Aiden filed her initial reaction away for future reference, but smiled in welcome. "Evan had somethings he needed to do so I offered to finish your tour. We weren't really introduced earlier. I'm Aiden Bancroft."

Lauren accepted the hand she held out. "Captain Lauren Sutcliffe. Major Lorne said I needed to be at a staff meeting at eighteen-thirty?"

Aiden motioned for her to start walking. "Yeah. I have to go to the same meeting. So I told Ev I'd take you up to the Infirmary, over to the engi-nerds, and then if we have time we can swing by Little Tripoli to see your office."

The captain shook her head as she tried to follow Aiden's plans. "We're going where?"

Aiden grinned, well used to people not understanding her on first meeting. "Just follow me." She pressed the correct spot on the transporter.

When they exited the transporter near the infirmary, Lauren was surprised at how much brighter and airier it was than the other levels she'd been on. The colors were the same blues and grays, but it somehow had a warmer look. She followed the linguist down the hall and into an obvious sickbay. A man in scrubs looked up from what he was doing as they entered. He smiled at the two women. "Hello, Aiden," he greeted the linguist familiarly. "Who's your friend?"

"Captain Lauren Sutcliffe, Doctor Jim Stevenson. She's the new captain who just arrived today to replace Bain. I'm just finishing her tour for Evan." Aiden glanced around the infirmary, obviously searching for someone. "Is Doctor Keller around? I'm supposed to check in with her."

Stevenson nodded. "She's in her office. You two can just go on back."

Aiden smiled in response. "Thanks, Jim. Come on, Captain." She led the way to the office that had once been her friend, Carson's, and was now Jennifer Keller's. Knocking on the door frame, she poked her head inside. "Hey, Doc," she said, "you got a moment to check me out? And also Captain Sutcliffe?"

Jen Keller looked up from her computer tablet. "Absolutely, Doctor Bancroft. Go have a seat on one of the beds." When she came out a moment later, Aiden was seated on one of the beds, swinging her legs since her feet didn't touch the floor. An unfamiliar Marine captain sat on the next bed. "How are you feeling?" she asked Aiden as she picked up a scanner.

"I was feeling better so I went to my lab to do some light work. The boys tattled on me so Evan came down and drugged me."

Keller nodded at whatever her results where. "I told you no working yet which is why they had the drug." She took the sling off Aiden's arm. "Rotate it," she instructed and watched closely for signs of pain or stiffness.

"If I keep one or both of the unholy duo with me to move stuff and keep an eye on me, can I _please_ go back to work?" Aiden asked as Keller put the sling back on her.

"I'd rather you didn't..." Keller sighed, "_but_ if you keep the sling on _and_ if you have the Marines do _all_ of your lifting, then yes. No more than five hours per day though and I _will_ tell your Marines that."

Aiden sighed. "Agreed. Since it's the best I'm going to get."

"It is. Your other choice is no working at all."

"I'll take the five hours!" Aiden quickly agreed.

Keller prepped a needle. "I thought you might. Turn away." After Aiden turned her head, Keller injected her with a mild pain killer. "That should help. And I'd like to see you again in four days. If you stick to my directions, we should be able to do away with the sling then."

Aiden rubbed her shoulder where the needle had gone in. "All right."

Keller turned to the Marine captain who had been watching the interaction with interest. "Welcome to Atlantis, Captain Sutcliffe. I'm Doctor Keller." She turned and consulted her files. "Let's see you need tetanus, the gene therapy, and I need a couple of samples."

"Samples? Gene therapy?" Lauren questioned.

"Just a few simple samples," Keller responded. "Oh and it looks like you need your birth control updated. Just sit tight and we'll get your out of here as quickly as possible." Keller walked away to gather what she would need.

Lauren turned to Aiden who was laying down on her bed with her eyes closed. "What is she going to do?" she asked apprehensively.

Aiden waved dismissively. "I dunno. Doctor of Languages, not medicine." She rolled her head so she could look at Lauren and opened her eyes. "Shots and needles probably."

"That's a nice way to talk about me," Keller said as she came back.

Aiden gave a half-shrug, since she could only really move one arm. "You collaborated with Evan to drug me. I'm not feeling charitable at the moment. At least Carson did his own dirty work."

"If you'd follow orders, Major Lorne wouldn't have taken the steps he did," Keller pointed out as she began drawing the samples she needed from Lauren. She meticulously labeled each one.

"Speaking of, could you let Evan know I'm allowed to work?" Aiden asked.

Keller nodded, prepping the needles for the shots Lauren needed. "I will. Captain, I'm going to give you two shots and then insert an implant into your arm for the birth control. You're going to feel two quick pinches." The two women left after Keller gave Lauren instructions to return to the infirmary if she experienced any itching from the implant.

Lauren found herself slowing her pace for the shorter linguist. "If you don't mind me asking... who is Carson?" she said as they entered another transporter.

Aiden tapped the location they needed. "Who _was_ Carson?" she corrected and then sighed. "He was our CMO. He was killed a few weeks ago. Doctor Keller's okay, but Carson was here before I was and he's greatly missed." Aiden motioned Lauren out. "Welcome to the Rube Goldberg headquarters of the engi-nerds. Watch out for his royal crabbiness Doctor Rodney McKay," she added as they entered one of the labs.

"I _heard_ that," Rodney snapped as he looked up from what he and Doctor Radek Zelenka were studying.

Aiden grinned, unrepentant. "I wouldn't have said it if you couldn't hear it, Rodney. Captain, Doctors Rodney McKay and Radek Zelenka. Radek's the nice one; Rodney's the bitchy one. Unfortunately Rodney's in charge. Hi, John."

Sheppard looked up from the ball he was trying to initialize. "Hey, Doc. Blow any holes in my city today?"

Aiden held up a finger. "One time. One time that happened. And I didn't even set the charges." She glared at John's grin. "And no, I didn't, since I spent most of the day unconscious because your XO drugged me."

"I don't want to know," Sheppard replied, then laughed in delight as the ball lit up. "Ha!"

Aiden frowned as the ball emitted a beep and then began speaking Ancient. "John...turn it off. Off! Off _now_!"

"What? Why?" Sheppard grabbed the ball from where he had tossed it and thought _off_ at it.

The ball emitted a high pitched squeal and began beeping faster. "That's _not_ off!" Aiden pointed out.

"What the hell is it going to do?" Sheppard demanded.

"Well, considering the Ancient is a countdown and warning of imminent destruction, I would say it's going to explode," Aiden responded.

Sheppard and McKay exchanged glances. "Containment room," McKay snapped.

Sheppard snatched the ball up and dashed from the room with McKay hot on his heels. "How big a boom?" he yelled back to Aiden.

"I dunno, but it _is_ the Ancients so I would say it'll be a _big_ bada boom!" Aiden ran after them.

Lauren shook her head and looked at the scientist who had remained in the room. "Does that happen a lot?" she asked.

Radek gave an unconcerned shrug. "It happens. More on accident than anything else." Lauren wasn't completely surprised to hear an accent, although she couldn't quite place it. Turning her head, she tried to get a glimpse of the flag on his arm.

There was a muffled boom from farther down the hall and the room rocked slightly. Radek reached over without looking and steadied something next to him. A moment later, the three returned from wherever they had gone. Sheppard and Aiden had big grins on their faces, although McKay looked annoyed. "Radek, take the rest of those and lock them away from Sheppard. We don't need a repeat," McKay ordered. He watched as the other scientist gathered up six other balls, the snapped his fingers. "On second thought. Aiden, think we can take one of these apart without exploding it?"

Aiden picked it up, causing Lauren to take a step backwards. "I can't set it off," Aiden explained. She studied it for a few minutes. "Yeah, just make sure whoever works on it doesn't have the gene."

"Mark it for Abrams," McKay commanded. "But only give him one to dismantle."

Radek muttered something in another language, causing Aiden to grin, and then gathered up five of the six explosives. Aiden assisted him in moving them to a safer location and labeling them with large 'Do _NOT_ touch' stickers. Since Sheppard had had so much trouble initializing the first one, they only put the standard warnings on them. Sheppard was asking as they returned, "So how did you end up with the doc?"

"I'm not really sure," Lauren answered. She had edged away from McKay and Sheppard, putting a table between herself and the two men. "The major escorted me to my quarters and said he'd return, but Ms. Bancroft came instead."

"Doctor Bancroft," McKay corrected, slapping Sheppard's hand away from something on the table. "Don't touch!" He waved at the doorway. "Go. Terrorize your jarheads or something." McKay pointed at Aiden. "And, you, get out before the two of you blow up something I don't have duplicates of and actually need."

Sheppard hopped off his stool. "Quick before he revokes my parole," he said to the two women.

When they were in the transporter, Aiden broke down in a fit of giggles to Lauren's confusion. Once she had control of herself, she said, "John, you shouldn't torment Rodney like that."

"I've been playing light switch for the past eight hours. Tormenting him is my revenge. Besides after that little oops, he wasn't going to have me do anything else," Sheppard answered.

"That was a little oops?" Lauren asked.

Sheppard leaned against the wall. "Yes, that was a little oops. No damage to the city and no one was injured." He nodded towards Aiden. "A big oops is what she and the terrible two did a year or so ago when they blew a hole in the pier."

Aiden glared as all three of them exited the transporter at Little Tripoli. "I didn't set the charges," she pointed out. "Murray did. He's the demolitions expert. If you wanna blame someone for blowing a hole in your pier; blame him." She gestured at the area around them, clearly changing the subject. "So this is the home of the Marines aka Little Tripoli. Armory, firing range, offices, and barracks for enlisted and NCOs. Anything else?" she asked Sheppard.

"Nope. I think that pretty much covers it." Sheppard pointed down the hall. "You've got an office down there. Somewhere. And we'll get you issued a sidearm. And a radio. Aiden, you can make sure she gets those before you turn her loose, right?"

As she started to wander off, Aiden called, "Senior staff meeting at eighteen-thirty, John! No fair having Atlantis hide you!"

Sheppard turned around and walked backwards, answering her, "It's not like Lorne can't run it."

Aiden sighed in response, then turned to Lauren. "So anything else you want to see?" she asked.

"I can't think of anything. I assume I'll get a map or something?" Lauren answered.

Aiden nodded. "I'll make sure you get one. Let's get you a sidearm and a radio for now. Your computer tablet should be in your office and there's a map on there if nothing else." Aiden checked her watch. "Then we'd better head up to the conference room since it's eighteen hundred."

The linguist led the way down the hall to the armory, entering it and smiling at the large man seated behind the cage. "Hi, Sergeant Wisonki, this is Captain Sutcliff. She's replacing Bain and needs a sidearm and a radio."

Sergeant Wisonki stood up and saluted, waiting until Lauren returned it. "Yes, ma'am, let's get you outfitted." He glanced over at Aiden before turning to go back deeper into the cage. "Your gunny's looking for you."

Aiden rolled her eyes. "Why he couldn't just call me on the radio?" she grumbled, even as she reached for her own radio, triggering it on. "Mac, it's Aiden. What do you need?" She listened for a few minutes, then answered, "No, probably not since we have a senior staff meeting in a few minutes. I'll meet the unholy duo for practice tomorrow and see you guys for dinner." After another moment of silence, she said, "See you later."

By the time Aiden finished speaking, Wisonki had returned with both the nine millimeter and the radio. He handed them over to Lauren who set the radio down on the counter and checked the nine millimeter, popping the clip and checking to be sure there wasn't a round in the chamber. When she was done, she slid it into the provided holster and strapped it on. "Do you need to go somewhere?" she asked the linguist.

"Nah. The marines on my team are heading over to the mainland. Mac just wanted me to go with them." She nodded at the equipment the woman held. "You set?"

"I believe so. Where to now?" Lauren asked.

"We'd better get up to the conference room," Aiden responded. As they entered the transporter, she asked, "So what do you think of our people and city?"

Lauren eyed her, gauging how much she could trust the other woman. "Permission to speak freely?"

Aiden waved the question off. "Not needed. I'm not military nor am I exactly in your chain of command." Aiden reached over and stopped the transporter to give her time to answer. "Go ahead and give me your honest opinion."

Lauren took a deep breath. Obviously this woman was well-connected with the higher echelon of the base, but she also seemed to really want to know what the captain thought. "I think the city is beautiful." She took a deep breath. "The military isn't quite like any I've seen before. Sheppard seems a bit lax in discipline, but Lorne seems more by the book. Your doctor seems confident if a bit unsure of herself. And the scientists are a little crabby."

Aiden leaned against the side of the transporter, taking a position not unlike Sheppard earlier. "John is a good commander. He isn't as lax as he projects. I'd suggest once you get your clearance, you access some AARs from the first year. As for your other comments, Evan is who he is. He and Sheppard balance each other out. Rodney," she grinned, "is an asshole. But he's the most brilliant asshole you'll ever meet and he's saved our lives more times than I can count." She sighed. "And Keller is trying to fill the shoes of someone who was well loved and missed. Someone we only lost a few weeks ago." She reached out, turning the transporter back on. The doors opened a few minutes later. "You need to make your decision. Either you request a transfer back to Earth or you decide you can work here." She pointed down the hall. "The senior staff meeting will be taking place in the conference room at the end of this hall. If you decide you can live in this wacky world where one day you may face exploding balls and the next life sucking vampires and the day after that self-aware robots who want to kills us, you'd better join us before the meeting starts. If not, Sheppard won't block your transfer." With that said, Aiden left the transporter and strode down the hall.

Lauren stepped out of the transporter, but didn't follow Aiden down the hall. She wanted a moment to think. She had to admit this wasn't the most disciplined military unit she had ever been a part of, but it also seemed like it was a good place to get experience and advancement. Her decision made, to stick it out and try to fit into this place, she began to walk down the hall to the room Aiden had indicated.

When she entered, Aiden gave her a tight smile from her seat beside Major Evan Lorne and motioned Lauren to take a seat beside the other captains. As Lauren took her seat, Aiden withdrew her hand from Lorne's and the other people in the room began to take their seats. Lauren was surprised to see that the room was not split between civilians and military, but that it was mixed. Sheppard sat between a dark haired woman and McKay. A few minutes after Lauren entered, the woman called the meeting to order, the captain to Lauren's left offering her his computer tablet so she could follow the agenda. As she settled into the meeting, Lauren decided she had made the right decision.


End file.
